Carting a class of kids to Go Ape, Laser Quest and the like is expensive and I don’t think it’s unreasonable to ask for a small contribution.

This mum has charged parents £6 per child. That is probably half of what she’s actually paying.

I have two children – daughter Caitlin, five, and two-year-old son Ben – and have previously spent £300 on their birthday parties. It’s a stressful time of year as their birthdays are a week apart.

I’ve spent £200 to hire out the soft play centre, £40 on a cake, £50 on a Frozen entertainer – and that’s before you get lumped with costs like party bags, decorations and the special outfit they insist on wearing.

I wouldn’t be averse to asking parents to chip in. I don’t think it would be sniffed at in my circle.

The way I see it, I do all the hard work, they dump their kids with me for four hours and then they have an amazing day out. Everyone’s happy. It’s discounted babysitting!

It also stops other kids from being excluded – you can invite everyone without worrying about spiralling costs. And, to ease parent’s money worries you can just tell them not to bring extravagant gifts.

Asking parents for a contribution also stop kids cancelling out at the last minute. It’s every mum’s worst nightmare.

If, throughout the year, I just had to contribute a fiver towards other children’s parties I’d jump at the chance. It saves forking out hundreds of pounds in one go.